The best management of infected fluid collections depends on a careful assessment of clinical and anatomic factors as well as an up-to-date review of the published literature, to be able to select from a host of multidisciplinary treatment options. This article reviews conservative, radiologic, endoscopic, and surgical options and their best application to infected fluid collections as determin...

Objective: To review the published research on allogeneic red blood cell (RBC) and plasma transfusions in children over 4 months of age. Evidence: Search of MEDLINE database between January 1966 and July 1996 and manual search of relevant textbooks. Articles addressing guidelines for administration, evaluation of appropriateness of therapy, utilization and indications for transfusion were selec...

AIM To assess effectiveness of guidelines for referral for elective surgical assessment. METHOD Systematic review with descriptive synthesis. DATA SOURCES Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane database up to 2008. Hand searches of journals and websites. SELECTION OF STUDIES Studies evaluated guidelines for referral from primary to secondary care, for elective surgical assessment for adults...

This is an updated review of management of vertebral compression fracture for both benign osteoporotic and malignant causes. Vertebral compression fracture radiologic imaging evaluation is discussed. A literature review is provided of current indications for vertebral augmentation with percutaneous vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty as well as medical management. Limitations and potential benefits ...

To determine the extent of inappropriate hospital use, and to investigate factors related to variations in appropriateness, 8,031 hospital records of patients discharged from 41 hospitals in 3 Massachusetts professional standards review organization (PSRO) areas were reviewed in 1973 and 1978. The Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) was used for the reviews and logistic regression analysi...

background: development of a manual or well‑defined criterion for prioritizing the topics of clinical practice guidelines (cpgs) will help validate and organize this process evermore. this study was conducted to design an applicable manual that would prioritize the cpg topics for family physicians. methods: this study was a multi‑stage method using a qualitative approach that was conducted for ...

Objectives: This article is a review of the literature on the changing role of the ambulance paramedic in the light of recent changes in UK Government policy towards the ambulance service. Methods: A systematic review of the literature on the Ambulance Service in the UK was carried out with regard to the expanding role and skills of ambulance paramedics in assessing, treating and advising patie...

INTRODUCTION The appropriateness of oral anticoagulant prescriptions is a major challenge to improve quality and safety of care. As indicators of the appropriateness of oral anticoagulant prescriptions are lacking, the aim of the study is to develop and validate a panel of such indicators, in hospitalised adults, from the hospital information system of two university hospitals in France. METH...

The aim of this paper is to investigate the importance of the relationship between the Behaviour approach and software review performance. Results are from an experimental study conducted in late 2006. The overall findings suggest that: communication has an effect on software review performance; status effect has an effect on software review performance; there is little impact of teamwork on th...

Results. The 59 eligible studies identified via the systematic Study Design. The RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method is a well-established means of developing criteria for assessing the appropriateness of surgery in specific subpopulations. It involves a systematic review of the literature and ratings by a multidisciplinary panel of national experts. Objective. To evaluate the appropriateness of s...